Related Articles
Electronic Arts recently paid $2.1 billion to acquire prolific mobile game developer GluMobile, which makes Kim Kardashian’s mobile game and so many others, and now EA’s CEO has shed some additional light on the purchase.
Speaking to GI.biz, Andrew Wilson said EA bought Glu because his company wants to grow, and mobile is the way to do that. EA also wants to make more money from microtransactions and live services and this is the bread and butter of Glu. Mobile is also bigger than console and PC, which is why EA is pushing to invest more.
“Mobile is the biggest platform in gaming today, and we’re committed to growth,” Wilson said. “We have great confidence in our existing live services and new mobile games in development, and with Glu we have an opportunity to bring together teams with complementary product portfolios and capabilities that will lead to even more great games.”
With the acquisition of Glu, EA gets to tap into an even bigger market on mobile through genres like sports and lifestyle, while Glu will help EA reach additional international markets. “We know there are exciting opportunities ahead in mobile, and we want to be in a position to lead,” Wilson said.
EA already operates a big and successful mobile game division. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes in particular is a bright spot, generating $1 billion from microtransaction sales to date.
Mobile is so important to EA that the company paid a 36% premium on Glu’s share price to acquire the company. With the acquisition, EA is taking on Glu’s 800 employees, 500 of which are game developers. A spokesperson for EA confirmed to GI.biz that there are no plans to shut down any of Glu’s games or make any layoffs due to the acquisition.
“This deal was not about cost efficiencies. We’re excited to add these teams to our organization,” the spokesperson said.
Glu is just the latest high-profile acquisition from EA, as the publisher recently paid more than $1 billion to acquire the racing game developer Codemasters. Thanks to this buyout, EA expects to be able to release new racing games on an annual basis going forward.
